Deified
by Entropic Horizon
Summary: AU. "Humanity STOLE its power!" He roared at the insolent blond before him. "I'll take every ounce of it back even if it means I'll have to grind every man's, woman's, and child's bones to dust!" OC Villain. Semi-regular updates.
1. Chapter 1

Deified Chapter 1

_Deify: Worship, regard, or treat something or someone as a god._

_**6 years before the Kyuubi's attack.**_

A woman's screams rang out into the night from her small home. Screams caused by the pain of her unusually stressful labor. She clutched the sheets of her bed so hard her knuckles were white.

All the while her husband of five years watched while he blocked the view of her from their four year old daughter. He was worried as he has never seen anyone look so in pain. The young girl fidgeted in her father's grasp, desperately trying to grab a peek at her mother's predicament. "Daddy, what's wrong with mom?" The daughter asks with the most worried tone anyone that young can manage. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "I don't know..." He said.

The thing is he did know. He knew what was happening and it was so terrifying to him that he was paralyzed at the sight, unable to comprehend what was occurring right in front of him. His wife, the first woman he had loved in decades, was shrouded in a white cloak of chakra stained with constantly moving tendrils of black chakra.

Five minutes of the most spine chilling screams pass before he is able to collect himself enough to get his daughter out of the room. He turned his daughter to him and took as deep a breath as he could before he looked into his daughter's deep brown eyes. He'll miss those beautiful eyes. "I want you to run...run as far as your legs can take you. Don't look back, don't slow down, and whatev- STOP CRYING AND PAY ATTENTION!" He shakes his now hysterical daughter. His own tears start to escape his eyes as his daughter complies with his demand. He has never been this rough with her but her survival depended on it. "...Whatever you do, you will NOT come back. If you can, go to your uncle's house. I'll try to explain everything later."

With that, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front door. He looked out into the night for a dozen seconds. "Wait...before you go..." He turned to her and went down to one knee. He quickly gave her a hug, the kind of hug you give to someone you believe you're never going to see again. "Just know that your mother and I love you more than we can express in words..." He let his daughter go while his wife's screams intensified to near inhuman levels. His daughter trembled as if she was just pulled out of an ice bath. She didn't know what was going on but from the way her dad acted, she was scared of what was to come. She barely whispered her next words. "I love you too, dad." She let go of her father, for what she would later found out was the last time, and wiped her tears away. One last look at her dad and she sprinted away.

* * *

An hour had passed by.

It's been seven minutes since his wife's screams stopped. Whether it's because she died or her vocal chords finally gave out, he did not know. What he was certain about however was that if he didn't go into that room, both him and his daughter weren't living past this night. He was able to scrounge up some newfound courage in wanting his daughter to live. He made his way into his proverbial lion's den.

On their bed lay his still wife, the cloak replaced with a complex seal on her stomach that faded before his very eyes. It was as if it was waiting for him to look upon it before it disappeared...seemingly taunting him and his mistake. In his wife's hands lay his son with a duplicate seal on his own forehead. Above them both was what can only be described as a white cloud of chakra with sharp black eyes looking down upon them. The eyes shifted towards the husband.

A veritable tsunami's worth of killing intent brought him to his knees near instantaneously. "It has been too long, my dear boy. 203 years by my count since last time we met..." A disembodied voice in his head rang out. "...You are a fool believing I would just forget if you waited long enough. If you had just impregnated some random whore a long time ago and let me have the child that you guaranteed me, I would've left you alone to live whatever life you wished to have. Instead you waited and waited before foolishly believing in your safety and starting this family of yours. Still, even with your delay of payment, I would have spared your lovely wife. All you had to was just summon me and saved me the trouble of looking for your unusually mobile soul..." The voice then let out a malevolent chuckle. "...Too bad that's not the case. Oh no don't worry, your daughter will be spared from my wrath. It wouldn't be fair to punish her for the sins of her father however, as you can see here in front of you, I had to collect some form of compensation for your utter lack of respect."

The cloud turned its attentions to the baby resting in his dead mother's arms.

"Seal." The voice said.

The seal on the baby's forehead glowed a beautifully soft blue and the cloud was sucked into the baby's head. A few seconds pass by before the killing intent eased off the husband and allow him to stand. "I have to stop him!" He thought to himself as he raced to the kitchen and grabbed the closest knife. He ran back into the room to his son and poised the knife to strike. "I'm sorry..." He whispered to his son as he brought the knife down. Another heart stopping wave of killing intent hit him. A hand of white chakra rushed out of his son's chest and grabbed his wrist.

In the blink of an eye, the same cloak of chakra that covered his wife earlier appeared on his son. "Tsk...And here I thought you would just accept your fate. I think killing you would be good compensation for this attempt on my own newfound life...wouldn't you agree?" To his horror, the voice was coming out of his son's mouth. Another hand shot out of his son's chest and grabbed onto his throat.

"Don't look so fearful...after this you'll be seeing your wife again." Another chuckle of his rang out in the husband's ears. The hand around his neck started squeezing. He dropped his knife to try and pull the hands away from his neck but to no avail. He lost his ability to breathe after just a moment but still the hand kept squeezing. His face soon turned blue. "Fortunately for you, I'm not one for prolonging deaths as I find it rather..." The hand crushed the man's windpipe before twisting to the side instantly breaking his neck. "...distasteful."

The man dropped to the floor with a hard thud. The cloak then evolved forming into the shape of a full grown man with the baby being in the center of the torso.

"Thanks to the...modifications I did in the period of the mother's labor, this vessel can channel my second stage's equivalent of chakra with no harm done but it looks like I have to wait until this body matures physically before being able to access my full power..." He sighed at the prospect of waiting another twenty or so years before setting his plan into motion. The cloak receded and he laid back down on his body's mother in preparation for sleep.

"It'll be worth it in the end..."

* * *

_**The Morning After**_

The daughter had managed to reach her uncle's house and convinced him to go back to her home to investigate what had happened the night before. He brought along his oldest son and his neighbor as well as some weapons. They didn't know what occurred so they were prepared for any possibility.

What they saw shocked them to their cores. The house was now a smoldering ruin. The entire structure had looked like a powerful explosion went off inside. A man's body was splayed out on the front lawn, his body broken and singed. Most likely the husband. There was even a small fire still going on where the kitchen used to be.

Despite all this, there was a woman lying on her bed seemingly untouched by what happened to the house. The uncle recognized this woman as his pregnant sister but there was no baby bump on her.

And no baby to be seen.

* * *

_**Night of the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha**_

A little 6 year old boy sat on the Hokage Monument eating some cooked fish he stole in the initial confusion caused by the appearance of the Kyuubi. He had a light tan, unkempt black hair, and strikingly white eyes similar to a Hyuga's, only he had actual pupils. He was lean, but not skinny, and was wearing baggy green pants and shirt with no sandals on his feet. Other than his eyes, nothing about him stood out...almost as if he was born to blend in.

He let out an impressed whistle at the sight of the biju. "From the looks of things, this one's power wasn't exaggerated at all..." A weary sigh could be heard from the boy. "Looks like I still need to do some growing before I can continue my plans." He said as he casually ate the rest of his fish while the village around him slowly devolved into chaos from the Kyuubi going on his rampage.

Confusion and panic in the village was soon at its peak and the number of ninja in the village were low. The perfect time to steal some village jutsus. He finished off his impromptu meal and headed for the Hokage tower.

There were almost no ninja in the tower as they were all out defending the village. He was already at the level of an Elite Jounin in the shinobi arts so it was practically child's play (no pun intended) for him to infiltrate the tower. Only two Chunin were guarding the door to the forbidden scroll and they were in plain sight as well. He mumbled to himself as he made a few seals. "Hidden Art: False Invisibility." A genjutsu fell upon the eyes of the Chunin hiding the infiltrator from their sight. Once he felt that there were enough layers of the illusion on them, he snuck past the two. They must've been too unnerved by the Nine-Tails to notice the subtle movements of the air he moved through. Oh well, it made his task easier.

A few minutes pass by he decides to leave the tower. The genjutsu was dispelled when he was certain that the Chunin wouldn't see him. Back on top of the tower, he put the index and middle finger of his right hand up to his right temple. This aided him when he sorted through his memories. "Good thing I thought about giving this vessel photographic memory. That scroll had some lengthy Kage-level techniques in there." A proverbial light bulb went off in his head. "Now that I think about it...I should go see about the jutsus in other villages along with this one..."

But first, he had to finish here. So for the duration of the attack, he snuck around all the now much less occupied clan compounds and memorized whatever clan jutsu scrolls he could get his hands on. He was almost caught at the Hyuga's compound but quick thinking on his part left them confused and willing to shove the incident under the carpet to his delight. The only one that he didn't break into was the Namikaze estate due to all the security seals. Some of them would alert the Hokage if he tampered with them. He didn't feel like announcing his presence to the ninja world just yet so he just left it alone.

Once he had his fill of Konoha's jutsus, he made his way out of the village. After nearly 300 years, he was finally making progress. The thought put him in a somber mood as he reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace with two separate silver wings attached. The piece of jewelry would appear generic to anyone else but not to him. It looked exactly like the necklaces he and his companions used to wear.

He gripped the necklace in his fist as he remembered his friends from so long ago. Such fools they were back then! A roar echoed out behind him snapping him out of his reflection.

He put the necklace back in his shirt.

"I'll get you all back even if it's the last thing I do..."

_**Years later at an Unknown Location**_

"We have one final matter to discuss..." Said a hologram depicting a man with a face full of piercings and orange hair. "The replacement for Kakuzu's recently deceased partner has been recruited."

"Deceased is putting it lightly." Kisame, a tall, blue skinned sharkman, said with a chuckle at his own statement.

"Who's Kakuzu's next victim..." Said Sasori, a massive hunched over man, if you could consider him as such, with a mask covering the bottom half of his face"...I mean partner?"

"I hope it's not that Hidan guy. He kept going on and on about that god of his. So annoying, yeah." Said Deidara, the blond next to Sasori. "I doubt he could be as annoying as you are with your 'art'." Sasori retorted.

"Enough." Pain said ending the argument between Sasori and Deidara before it could continue. "You will see who it is once Kakuzu meets up with him and they both join us."

Almost as if on cue, another hologram sprang to life which showed a mildly injured Kakuzu, noticeably fuming beneath his mask, and a man, unknown to the others, standing next to him. This man had strikingly white eyes, shaggy black shoulder length hair, and wore the akatsuki robe signifying his membership to the group. "Pay no mind to Kakuzu here...he and I had a...disagreement...but we've settled it." The man chuckled to himself. A few moments of silence pass by.

"Would you mind introducing yourself?" Itachi asked with an emotionless voice. Kisame noticed an all too-subtle hint of curiosity in his partner's voice. He understood the curiosity though. After all, it's not every day that someone roughs up Kakuzu without getting a few injuries themselves. Everyone for the most part ignored Kakuzu's anger; the man was always angry at one thing or another.

"Well, if you must know. My name is Mativ Manretea."

"And I have to say, I'm very eager to join in this hunt for the biju."

* * *

_**Omake #1**_

"Would you mind introducing yourself?" Itachi asked with an emotionless voice. Kisame noticed an all too-subtle hint of curiosity in his partner's voice. He understood the curiosity though. After all, it's not every day someone roughs up Kakuzu without getting a few injuries themselves. Everyone for the most part ignored Kakuzu's anger; the man was always angry at one thing or another.

"Hmm...but of course." The man scanned the others in the room for a few moments before a wide almost maniacal grin made its way onto the man's face.

"My name is..."

"...Khan."

Silence prevailed throughout the room.

Crickets started chirping

"Nerd." Kisame coughed into his hand.

"Fuck you, that was a good reference."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

So that's the first chapter of my first ever fanfiction! I hope you enjoyed reading it as I did writing it.

If there are any grammatical errors that I may have missed please feel free to shoot me a PM and any constructive criticism in your reviews is more than appreciated as well.

My next chapter will come out next Wednesday so keep a look out!

_**Edit****:**_Changed some of the wording around to better fit the story and fixed some typos . no need to worry if you're a new reader as it doesn't really change anything.


	2. Chapter 2

Deified Chapter 2

**_Author's Note_**

Sorry for the late update!

I decided to do a massive rewrite of this chapter as I found it unsatisfactory after finishing it the first time.

There was also school work and my family preventing me from using the computer. .

To make it up, here's a longer chapter with some action!

* * *

Mativ could not believe his luck. Almost 300 years of next to no progress but now not only did he find an alliance of mortals who were also searching for the biju, they were collecting all their chakras into a giant statue in hopes of creating a super weapon to "end conflict" as their oh so powerful leader claimed. His plan was so close to fruition that he could taste success already.

One could say he was almost giddy at the prospect.

He and Kakuzu were meant to gather information on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's abilities. It was originally meant to be Kisame and Itachi but seeing as the target was known to be in Konoha, Pain decided otherwise. He didn't want the Akatsuki bringing so much attention to it just yet.

But for now, Mativ was meditating. At the very least, it looked like meditation to Kakuzu. He was sitting cross-legged on a large tree branch. His hands were fists in contact with each other's knuckles and his eyes were closed. No movement could be noticed from him save for the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest to signify he was breathing.

* * *

_**Flashback to an hour before.**_

Kakuzu and Mativ were walking along the road together in utter silence. Kakuzu because he was still angry over the fact that the newcomer was able to scratch him at all. He wasn't as prideful about his abilities as lesser ninja, mainly because he was too focused on his money, but it looked like the kid wasn't trying hard at all during the match! Mativ was quiet because he was contemplating his next move. He had been working on what to do next since he got his vessel.

"Kakuzu...what is your opinion on Orochimaru?"

Kakuzu stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow at Mativ. "Why does that matter to you?" He replied in his usual gruff voice.

"Curiosity."

Kakuzu stated blankly at Mativ for a few moments. "I never really paid attention to him. I know that he's considered a genius and was one of our stronger members but, like I said, I wasn't all too curious about him. Did a lot of good for the organization until he tried to take Itachi's body, failed, and promptly defected. Why do you ask?"

Mativ let a smirk show. "A guy like him should have a pretty high bounty don't you think?" Kakuzu chuckled upon remembering the ridiculously high bounty on Orochimaru. "More than most I can tell you that much." Kakuzu said with a subtle hint of delight at the thought of having that much cash being handed to him. "Then let's go get that bounty. We are supposed to aid the organization financially and what better way than with that massive paycheck?" Mativ said.

"You overestimate my enthusiasm when it comes to Akatsuki." Kakuzu stated bluntly. "While I do love the idea of earning that bounty, I'm not so foolhardy so as to take on Orochimaru. While I'm confident in my abilities, I can admit that he can edge me out in a fight."

"You seem to forget our first meeting." Kakuzu's eyes narrowed at the reminder and growled. "I'm confident enough that with our strength combined we can beat Orochimaru."

"Do you even know where he is?"

Mativ jumped to a seemingly random branch in a nearby tree. He sat down cross-legged and brought his fists together. "I'm certain I can find him by the end of the day." With that, Mativ closed his eyes. Kakuzu didn't like the idea of facing Orochimaru but the way he figured, he can escape and leave this eager partner of his behind if the situation gets too rough for his liking.

* * *

_**Present Time**_

He wasn't meditating as one would believe. He was locating Orochimaru by connecting to his specific soul. People like the Snake Sannin had a specific taint to them that was easy for a being like Mativ to locate. A skill that was virtually unknown in the mortal realm. Two more minutes pass.

His eyes opened and his face shifted to show absolute determination. "Found him."

Mativ quickly jumped in the direction of the Sannin with a mildly surprised Kakuzu following. "That was pretty quick."

* * *

_**Several Hours Later**_

Orochimaru was busy working on finalizing the plans for the invasion that was to happen at the end of the Chunin Exams. Once he was done, he would pay Sasuke a visit in the second part of the Chunin exams which should start within the next hour. He let out a creepy chuckle at the thought.

Just one more look at these invasion plans and he would make his way to Konoha. Unfortunately before he could take said look, some of his experiments a few rooms down the hall started to act up. He scowled. It wasn't unusual for them to become rowdy every now and then but this time seemed...different.

They sounded like someone they feared was approaching them. He recognized it due to the fact that they made the same commotion whenever he or Kabuto went into the room but Kabuto was already in Konoha. So who was making them react like that?

He was about to get up and investigate when he heard a faint explosion. Orochimaru growled. Someone had the gall to intrude on the Snake Sannin's base? This lack of respect would simply not do!

The alarm sounded and the Oto shinobi in the base went to attack whoever was foolish enough to make such a ruckus. The experiments only grew more unrestrained in their efforts to escape whatever scared them. Orochimaru stood up and walked in the direction of the intruder. "Just when I was about to finish up for the day..." He muttered to himself. After a minute of walking, all the sounds of combat suddenly stopped. The intruder must have been weaker than he expected if they only lasted this long against his shinobi.

Orochimaru sighed. Oh well, maybe he could use the body for one of his medical experiments.

Several more minutes passed by and he came upon a rather surprising scene in the room where all the commotion took place. All of his shinobi were down although from the lack of blood, deformities among the bodies, and that most seemed to be breathing, none were dead. On the far side of the room, there was a large, gaping hole in the wall that he suspected was made with a particularly strong jutsu since the base was built with reinforced walls. In the center of the hole was a man he had never seen before with the whitest eyes he had ever witnessed wearing Akatsuki robes with Kakuzu standing a couple yards behind him.

"So the Akatsuki decided to finally off me? Took them long enough." Orochimaru remarked sarcastically. He knew this day was coming ever since he tried to take over Itachi's body and defected from the group after his failure in that regard. "Neither of us are here on any orders, Orochimaru. This is a matter of finance. You have a big bounty, we're collecting it." Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at the proclamation and spared a glance at Kakuzu. "I never thought you'd be one to take risks, Kakuzu." Orochimaru remarked offhandedly.

"I'm full of surprises." Kakuzu replied in a dry manner. "Why are all my men alive? You could've at least saved me the trouble of having to deal with them later for their failure in preventing intruders."

A bone-crushingly oppressive wave of killing intent filled the room causing Orochimaru to unconsciously shiver as he was unprepared for it. This didn't feel like your standard killing intent. It felt old and monstrous yet far more refined and calm than any killing intent he's ever felt before. Kakuzu, while not even in the room, felt some of Mativ's killing intent. It seems that his partner had a few tricks up his sleeve.

"They're not my concern nor are they threats. There was no need to kill them but you might want to make peace with yourself. You're the only one not living past today."

* * *

Naruto panicked internally as he tried to answer the questions on his test. There was just no way he could pass this test! The questions made no sense! He's going to fail and Sasuke and Sakura are going to fail with him when he did!

He grabbed his head and stared at the test wide-eyed trying to will the answers from the depths of his mind but nothing came. Hinata, with her Byakugan active, noticed Naruto's struggle with the test. He must have not figured out that you had to cheat in this test yet.

* * *

Mativ leapt at Orochimaru with surprising speed, a kunai suddenly appearing in his right hand. He shot his hand forward in a blurred motion to stab Orochimaru but he evaded the blow by sidestepping to his left. A swift kick from Orochimaru to the man's face sent him flying out of the building through the hole. He landed on his two feet quite a distance from the opening. "Akatsuki must've lowered its standards for entering if you're a part of them." Orochimaru casually stated as he walked out from the hole with a confident demeanor to him.

Mativ spoke no words as he stood up straight no worse for wear. He put his hands into a seal that Orochimaru recognized. He looked behind himself only to see an explosive tag on the floor less than a foot behind him. How did he miss that? "Kai!" The man yelled which set off the explosive tag. The explosion that followed was extremely violent as the tag was easily 3 or 4 times the strength of a normal tag. The dust settled after a few moments showing no signs of Orochimaru.

"You owe me 100 ryu, Kakuzu. I told you he wouldn't notice it." Mativ said with a grin as Kakuzu prepared himself for any possible counter attack by Orochimaru. "You do realize you probably didn't kill him with that?" Kakuzu stated with some irritation at his partner's apparent lack of concern. "Oh I know that but our bet was that he wouldn't notice the tag until I activated it therefore you still owe me 100 ryu."

Orochimaru came out of the woods a few yards away from the duo's right with a slow clap alerting the two to his presence. "I'm impressed that you managed to sneak that explosive tag by me however that will not happen again." Orochimaru formed a series of seals too fast for the human eye to follow finishing in the span of a blink of an eye. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" A great gust of wind blew towards Mativ and Kakuzu forcing Kakuzu to jump out of the way. Mativ apparently did not react fast enough as the jutsu launched him into the air and slammed him into a tree over 50 yards away where he promptly puffed out of existence.

"Shadow Cl-?" Orochimaru was interrupted mid word when two hands reached out to him from underground and grabbed his ankles. "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu." The hands pulled him down so only his neck and head were above ground. The man rose up out of the ground with one of his hands in a seal. Orochimaru suddenly turned brown and melted. "Mud clone..." He muttered.

"Kukukukukuku...you are more cunning than I initially thought. This should be fun...but before we go on, what is your name?" The Snake asked in a taunting voice. It was disembodied at this point and seemingly without a source.

"Mativ Manretea."

* * *

"N-Naruto-kun, you c-can copy off of me." Whispered a nervous Hinata as she slid the test under her forearm in a way that allowed him to view some of the answers.

Naruto was surprised that Hinata would do something like this for him since it risked her team mates as well. He was about to start copying Hinata's answers as discreetly as he could but a kunai flew past his face and hit a desk behind him nearly giving him a heart attack. "You've lost all your points. Get your team and go." Said one of the Chunin spotters to the Genin who's desk he hit. The Genin stood up and muttered a few curses while his team mates rose out of their seats as well. Naruto sighed in relief since it was apparently not him getting kicked out.

He looked at Hinata and shook his head not wanting to risk getting her disqualified. Maybe the tenth question could save him…

The last ten minutes of the test pass by much too fast for his liking.

* * *

Orochimaru was panicking internally. He had already shed his skin twice since the battle really got into gear. He was drained from a lot of chakra as a result but at the very least his opponents looked just as bad. Mativ had more than his fair shair of cuts, bruises, and burns from all the fighting. Kakuzu lost his Water and Lightning masks only a few minutes earlier forcing him to keep his two remaining masks close by to keep them from getting destroyed as well. More than a few times, he had to reattach his own limbs. He ripped off his headwear and tossed it to the side to get some more air into his tired lungs. Despite his Earth Spear, he felt sore along his torso from some of the impacts he's taken. All of the combatants had use high ranking jutsus which created the craters that now littered the battlefield and had basically leveled parts of the forest around.

"You alright, Kakuzu?" Mativ suddenly stated between labored breaths. "I'll live." Kakuzu stated.

Orochimaru held up Kusanagi which he pulled out a few moments after Mativ revealed his name. Mativ flicked his right wrist and a chakra string shot up from the ground. It attached itself to Orochimaru's sword and, following another movement of Mativ's wrist, pulled the sword into the earth burying it up to its hilt. Orochimaru was wide-eyed at the manner in which Mativ was able to disarm him. Before he was able to get properly angry at Mativ, he felt a small pinch on his right elbow. Before he could investigate it, he felt the same pinch on the back of his head, left elbow, both ankles, the back of his knees, the bottom of his wrists, and the middle of his spine. He was completely immobilized.

"Forbidden Art: Human Puppetry." Mativ said, managing to wear a smug yet tired expression on his face, his right hand held up with two strings coming out of each finger. "One of the few Suna techniques I bothered to master. All those pinches you felt? High power chakra strings that I was able to pump underground while you were shocked by your disarming. Drains me of chakra quickly but man is this technique useful." Mativ said this in as casual an attitude he could muster. To tell the truth, he was almost completely empty at this point. He'll have to use his sacred technique in order to finish off Orochimaru.

Orochimaru had been losing his sanity at the mere thought that he could lose throughout the match but becoming a human puppet was the straw that broke the camel's back. "NO! YOU WILL NOT MAKE A MOCKERY OF ME!" The Snake Sannin burst open and 8 snake heads rose up into the air leaving behind a husk still held up by the strings which Mativ dropped in disgust.

Kakuzu was shocked to say the least. The multi-headed snake in front of them was the size of a biju. "I think we should cut our losses and leave." Kakuzu said as his masks were getting ready to return to his back. "There's no way we can beat that."

"Not with that attitude." Said Mativ almost reflexively raising Kakuzu's ire.

"Not the best time for your shit jokes!"

"Sorry, bit of a reflex."

* * *

"...So there's no way I'll back down now!" Naruto yelled confidently as he and Ibiki stared each other down.

Ibiki looked around for a few seconds. It turns out that Naruto's rousing speech had inspired those that were left to stay. "All right then time for the 10th question...you all pass."

* * *

One of the heads opened its mouth wide and, lo and behold, the Snake Sannin himself wormed his way out of its throat. "How do you like my Eight Branches Technique? It's my strongest jutsu!" Orochimaru asked in a near maniacal state.

Mativ looked at Kakuzu with a determined face. "I'm going to need you to get his attention for a few seconds." Kakuzu eyes widened at his insane request. "Did you knock your head on something during the fight?!" The duo had to jump away as one of the heads struck at them destroying the ground they used to occupy. "I can finish him off but I need some time! Just a few seconds!"

"Fine!"

Orochimaru struck at Mativ with two of his heads which Mativ evaded by jumping back several yards. He formed some seals quickly in mid-jump. "Earth Style: Walls of Jericho!" He slammed both of his hands onto the ground when he landed. A massive wall, easily 300 feet across and 50 feet tall, suddenly rose up out of the earth. A large seal adorned the center of the wall. Only those with, at the very least, a moderate skill in seals would recognize it as a fortification seal. Once the wall was finished, He clenched his hands into fists and joined them at the knuckles. That jutsu used up nearly all that was left of his chakra at this point but it will buy him the time he needs to finish this fight. He was done playing around. Orochimaru began violently attacking the wall with all his force, his blind rage forcing his mind to take a back seat. "YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME, MATIV!"

Kakuzu jumped onto the wall, his masks trailing him. The wall was strong but it would not hold up to the Sannin's attack. He will have to use one of his stronger attacks. "Wind Style: Pressure Damage! Fire Style: Searing Migraine!" The respective masks released the fire and wind techniques which combined to make a near unstoppable torrent of fire that consumed the snake in its entirety stopping its assault for the moment. Kakuzu's stomach dropped when the flames dissipated ten seconds later showing that the snake not only survived but only received minor burns and scratches. "Ah fuck." Kakuzu said in a frustrated and slightly disheartened tone. Before Orochimaru could attack him, both he and Kakuzu noticed a distinct spike in chakra behind the wall.

"Second Stage: Awakening!"

The seal on the wall suddenly disappeared and it collapsed releasing a large cloud of dust forcing Kakuzu and his masks to jump to nearby trees. A blur jumped high into the air catching Orochimaru's attention. While he was distracted, a second blur shot out from the dust cloud and delivered an earth shattering punch to the main head's throat. Orochimaru's face was stuck in a silent scream of pain. That was almost as hard as a punch from Tsunade! Orochimaru was reeling back from the punch while the 2nd blur landed on the ground and pushed off the ground in a mighty leap forward that left a small crater. It tackled the body of the snake forcing the monstrosity onto its back, the creature looked up to see the first blur, it was Mativ! His robes were gone leaving him in standard shinobi pants and sandals and his upper body bare. His hair had developed white streaks and an unfamiliar seal was glowing on his forehead.

The clone that tackled Orochimaru morphed so that its tan skin turned paper white with a large multitude of seals all over. The Snake Sannin, who noticed the shift, went wide-eyed at the sight. From what he could see, it was a clone made entirely of exploding tags. It gave him a smirk before the white light of its subsequent explosion enveloped Orochimaru.

Soon after, the dust settled revealing the snake with severe burns all over its body and missing three entire heads. Orochimaru was breathing hard. To say that that was a close shave would be a severe understatement.

Mativ landed as the now five-headed snake raised itself back to its rightful position. All of the heads and Orochimaru were staring at him with pure anger. Orochimaru however was able to notice a subtle change in Mativ's demeanor. His face showed complete focus and he carried himself like a Kage.

"Let's see what happen when you cut the head off of this particular snake."

* * *

Kabuto was getting worried. His master was nowhere to be found and he was not one to be late especially for an operation involving the Uchiha. The Oto Genins have no clue where he was and Kabuto was sure as hell that if his master took on someone else's identity, he would've been notified!

* * *

Naruto and his team mates were just starting on their trek through the Forest of Death. Naruto was walking with his hands on the back of his head seemingly without a worry. Sakura was busy switching between looking out for any hostiles and taking glances at Sasuke. Sasuke was also on high alert however he ignored Sakura's less than subtle attempts at admiring him.

"Man, I'm bored." Stated Naruto out of nowhere. "Makes me wish someone would attack us already." Naruto was then bonked on the head by an angry Sakura. "Ow, Sakura what was that for?!" Naruto said as he rubbed the area where he was hit. "Naruto, unless you completely forgot, there are people in here who will probably KILL us! So take this seriously!"

* * *

On the ground in front of him lay the Snake Sannin. It only took Mativ less than half a minute to rip Orochimaru apart from his snakes. Without Orochimaru to sustain the technique, the snake puffed out of existence. Orochimaru was bloody, beaten, and had less chakra in his system than an Academy Student. He was barely conscious and as such could not pull off any techniques necessary to escape. To put it bluntly, he was doomed.

Kakuzu was shocked by the way Mativ manhandled Orochimaru just now. He could see why this kid got into the Akatsuki. He jumped from his tree and landed next to Mativ. His masks returned to his back a few seconds later.

"Feel free to take his heart. Kami knows he doesn't need it anymore." Mativ said as he turned around to get his robes back.

Kakuzu grinned as several tendrils came out of his right arm. "With pleasure."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

Orochimaru is dead at the hands of Kakuzu and Mativ! How will this affect the Invasion, the Chunin Exams, and other events to come? I don't know! You'll have to wait for the next chapter!

Review and share this story with your friends!


	3. Chapter 3

**Deified Chapter 3**

Kakuzu stared wide-eyed at the financial documents in his hands. After he replenished his hearts (with Orochimaru's and some other poor shmuck's), he promptly disposed of the Snake's body. Of course, he kept the head in a scroll to collect the massive bounty.

Now Kakuzu wasn't a guy who particularly liked surprises. Surprises usually meant you were severely injured or dead in the world of ninja. However, there is always exceptions to these things like in this case. The papers happened to have big numbers. Really big numbers.

"Kakuzu!" Mativ manage to yell for a third time, his hair back to its normal brown and the seal gone. Returning to his first stage meant he was back to having close to no chakra which promptly made him collapse into the chair he was in. As it stands, It took a lot of effort for him to gain Kakuzu's attention.

"Huh...what?" Said Kakuzu, snapping out of his semi-trance.

"You look ready to have sex with those papers. Surely you can handle yourself better than this." He stated, muffled by all the documents his face was, quite literally, buried in.

Normally, a comment like this would make Kakuzu furious but the thought of all the MONEY his partner's ridiculous plan earned him...er...the Akatsuki convinced him to give Mativ a free pass for the time being. Instead, he straightened himself out and regained some of his usual composure.

"This coming from the guy who can barely sit properly." Kakuzu retorted. Mativ let out a groan before he sluggishly pushed himself up into a more dignified position in his chair. Putting his right index and middle finger up to his right temple, he sorted through the information he managed to absorb in the relatively short amount of time they've been there. "According to all this bullshit..." Mativ gestured to all the scrolls on the desk. "...our pal Orochimaru managed to create an extensive spy network, an entire hidden village, and convinced Suna to aid said village in an invasion of Konoha which will occur in a month."

"Ambitious."

Mativ let out a long sigh. He has never been so exhausted.

"We should contact Leader immediately." Kakuzu stated bluntly. "He'll want to know about this as soon as possible."

"First let's secure our hold on this base. Don't want any of the non-believers banding together to attack us." Mativ added tiredly.

"Agreed."

* * *

**Several Hours Later**

"So less than three days after our last meeting, you've killed Orochimaru, discovered an invasion plan, and gained control of an _entire _hidden village?" The projection that was Konan asked incredulously. Normally she would be quiet during these meetings but this was one of those rare occasions where she just had to speak out.

"These claims of yours are rather...incredible. Do you bring proof?" Pain's projection asked while leaking out some killing intent. It was clear that he would be most displeased if there was even a hint of fraud in either of his subordinates' claims.

Kakuzu's projection nodded. "Here are financial documents for every one of Orochimaru's operations including the village and most of his bases. He apparently took the most important papers with him wherever he went." Kakuzu then held up a scroll. "This scroll contains the Sannin's head and I also possess his heart."

"We've already taken the liberty of establishing a foothold in the nearby base and the shinobi there are scrambling to get any relevant information pertaining to Orochimaru's recent activities as we speak." Mativ's projection added.

Pain's eyes narrowed as the killing intent died down. From what he could see, they weren't lying. He took a deep breath. "I am... pleased. I'll head to Oto myself to establish Akatsuki as the authority in the village. You are to go to Konoha and continue gathering information on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. In due time, you'll bring together all the Oto nin that are there for the invasion and send them back to Otogakure. You are dismissed for now."

"Before we go, I feel like I should mention something." Mativ said all of sudden remembering a potentially important detail. "Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man, is in Konoha. Would you like us to bring him in? He'll be likely to know more about the deceased Sannin's activities than anyone else."

Pain nodded. "Yes but only when I say so. For now, the Kyuubi hold priority. Now go."

"Yes Sir." Both Kakuzu and Mativ's projections said in unison before promptly disappearing along with Pain and Konan.

* * *

"How is this going to affect our plans?" Konan asked Pain.

"We'll give Sasori control of Orochimaru's spy network...it will take a while to track down all of Orochimaru's contacts however..." Pain said contemplatively. "Two villages under our control will speed along our plans considerably."

"What about the invasion?"

"It'll do more harm than good if we go through with it as intended. It was meant to cause as much destruction to Konoha as possible, with little regard to his own troops, so Orochimaru can carry out his petty revenge against the village and Sandaime." Pain said matter-of-factly.

"We'll have to contact Suna. No invasion will happen."

* * *

**Ten Minutes Later**

"So..."

"OH GOD PLEA-blegh!" Mativ pulled out some random shinobi's kidneys and stuffed them inside the poor bastard's screaming jaws as Kakuzu addressed the insurgents.

"...anyone else want to protest?" All but a few ninja shook their heads vigorously. The ones that didn't were either vomiting, frozen from fear, or dead. Kakuzu smirked beneath his mask. "Good."

* * *

"So where's the nearest bounty station?" Mativ asked as he finished cleaning up his hands. He didn't like mutilating the Oto nin like he did but it got the proper message across: Any insurrection would be dealt with swiftly and brutally.

"There's one a few hours East of here so that's where we're headed." Kakuzu stated as he began to walk towards the exit. The base was theirs as any opposition had already been stamped out. Pain would take care of everything else when it came to the other bases and Oto. Right now, they were pretty much free to do what they want.

"Awesome."

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

Kakuzu was close to giggling when he was handed the 100 million ryu that Orochimaru was worth. However, decades of being a shinobi taught him quite a bit when it came to self control so he just gave a satisfied grunt instead. "I'm going to enjoy counting all this later..." Kakuzu muttered lowly to himself.

"You know I'm still here right?" Mativ asked with a raised eyebrow. While he knew about Kakuzu's obsession with money, seeing him in this state freaked him out.

"Hm? What's your point?" Kakuzu retorted absentmindedly.

"Never mind."

* * *

Naruto and company were resting underneath a tree whose roots created something of a shelter they could use. They were attacked as soon as the exams started by some Ame Genin but after that they got zip. No wonder the proctors gave them five days in the Forest of Death.

It was dusk so the team decided to set up watches and Naruto, hoping to be the first to see some action, volunteered for the first watch of the night.

'When is something exciting going to happen?' He wondered to himself as he began to space out where he sat.

* * *

It had taken a little more than twelve hours for the duo to get to Konoha's gates. They managed to get some spare Oto uniforms and headbands so as to not stand out too much in the village during the Exams. "Smart plan, Kakuzu." Mativ whispered simply as they gathered the appropriate documents to show the Chunin at the gate.

"Head throughout the village and gather any useful information pertaining to the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Meet back here in 12 hours." Kakuzu ordered as they turned a corner getting the duo out of the Chunins' line of sight.

"Will do." Mativ said with a nod as he shunshined. Kakuzu did the same a few seconds later.

* * *

**13 hours later**

Kakuzu and Mativ were walking through the Forest of Death at a leisurely pace. Despite the security surrounding the forest, it was rather easy sneaking in. "Why did we sneak into the Chunin Exams?" Kakuzu asked, annoyed that his partner practically forced him to follow him into the forest. "The reason we got these uniforms was because we were supposed to lay low." He added, his gruff voice gaining an additional roughness to show his irritation.

"According to one of the more talkative Chunin, The 'demon brat' is participating in the exams..." a near unnoticeable twitch of his lips gave away his irritation at the Chunin's ignorance. Mativ knew how most of the Jinchuuriki were treated in the ninja villages as if they were the biju themselves. He felt pity for them but his own plans held a higher priority than his moral compass. "...so the Jinchuuriki is in here somewhere. Since we're supposed to be gathering information on him, I figured we can do a skill assessment." Mativ stated casually with a smirk making its way onto his face when he saw Kakuzu's reaction out of the corner of his eyes. "And you did not mention this earlier because?!" A furious Kakuzu practically yelled as some tendrils pushed themselves out of his skin, twitching from Kakuzu barely managing to restrain himself.

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed dangerously as he faced forward and sped up his pace. If he didn't calm himself down, he would attack Mativ and possibly alert some of the Konoha ninja. He didn't feel like fighting his way out of a village right now.

Mativ was chuckling to himself. A mad Kakuzu was an entertaining Kakuzu. His chuckling stopped when a body flew past his field of vision and slammed into a tree which caught Kakuzu's attention as well.

"Yosh! That'll teach you to underestimate the power of youth!" Said a green spandex clad Genin who slid to a stop when he saw what he assumed was two Oto Jounin. "Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked the Jounin. As far as he knew, only Genin were allowed in the forest of the duration of the exam.

"What the fuck is wrong with your hair?" Asked Kakuzu incredulously as he looked at the unusual Genin's bowl cut. "Yosh! This wondrous haircut of mine was inspired by Gai-Sensei!" He practically yelled as his face was flooded with, what Mativ believed at least, tears of joy.

"LEE!" A distant voice cried out. How the hell did his sensei hear that? Mativ wondered.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

A sunset on a beach suddenly appeared before the duo's eyes as Lee hugged an apparition of what they assumed was his sensei.

"...I think I'm going to be nauseous." Said a mildly awestruck Kakuzu. He tried to look away from this horrifying sight but he just couldn't! Mativ was doing no better but, as a result of having more proficiency with genjutsu than his partner, he was able to get over his shock to try and dispel the illusion but he found that he could not do it!

It was quite possibly the most potent genjutsu he has ever experienced.

As fast as it came up, the genjutsu went down putting them back in the deadly forest. "Holy shit kid." Mativ spat out as he looked at the Genin in shock. A rustle nearby caught their attention once again. A girl with buns in her hair and a white eyed boy, Hyuga by the looks of it, jumped next to their spandex clad comrade. "Good job taking care of that last guy, Lee." Said the girl.

The Hyuga stiffened when he noticed the foreign ninja."Who are you and what are you doing here?" His posture became defensive, the Chunin exams demanding he be on his guard at all times. The girl followed his example along with the spandex kid.

"We're looking for our Genin." Stated Mativ simply as he pointed to his Oto headband. For all intents and purposes, he wasn't lying. "Why?" The Hyuga asked activating his Byakugan. Whether to look for deception or an attempt at intimidation was anyone's guess. While the Oto nin's face and body showed no deception there was a gnawing feeling at the back of his head that told him he had an ulterior motive.

"We don't answer to you, you little brat." Kakuzu said with an obvious edge to his voice. "Move along before I decide to rip you and your little friends apart."

"Now now, no need for threats." Mativ said to Kakuzu. He turned to the Hyuga and spoke with a more subtle edge to his voice as well as some killing intent that threatened to smother the Genins where they stood. "We'll just be on our way."

The Hyuga's eyes narrowed as the girl put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Neji. Lets go." She pleaded in a fearful whisper. He shrugged her hand off of his shoulder. "They could be spies." Neji argued after he took several moments to strengthen his resolve in the face if this killing intent. "It is our duty as Konoha shinobi to bring them in for questioning." Neji, reluctantly Mativ noticed, went into his Juken stance.

Kakuzu growled and was about to pretty much destroy this Genin but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I'll take care of them. You'll leave them splattered all over the place and that will raise more than a few suspicions. Keep looking for our Genin." Kakuzu nodded and shunshined out of there, knowing that he meant the Jinchuuriki.

The green shinobi, Lee was his name, took on his Goken stance. The girl simply took out some kunai. Mativ let out a 'hmm' at the sight. Two taijutsu specialists and a possible long range fighter to support them. A tried and true combination.

"You three do realize that the chances of you living past this fight is pretty much zero. Can't have you snitching on us now." Mativ then ripped of his headband and threw it to the side. If they somehow managed to escape, he had to make it look like he and Kakuzu were rogue ninja which ironically enough, they were. Truly this was a fine example of deception in the shinobi world.

"No use keeping up appearances for this fight." Mativ added.

Neji suddenly shot forward attempting a chakra laced palm strike to the apparently rogue nin's chest but a spike in the killing intent caused him to hesitate. As a result, the strike was caught almost casually by the shinobi, his palm only half an inch from delivering a lethal blow.

"Close but no cigar." Mativ grinned before he turned to the side and pulled the Hyuga forward. An elbow to his nose launched him back to his team mates. "Neji!" The girl yelled as she went to help him up. She was shocked at how quickly the Hyuga was knocked down. It looked like it was the first time she saw him take a hit so easily.

Neji, for his part, was dazed at the force of the blow, a river of blood flowing from his broken nose. He reached up to his nose to do a damage assessment only to find that he couldn't feel any pain! "W-what did you do to me?" He asked with nasally voice that held much more fear to it than he intended.

"I temporarily fried the nerves in your nose when I hit you so no pain for now. I could've easily given you an impromptu lobotomy." Mativ said in a matter of fact tone.

Neji's eyes widened in acknowledgement at the rogue nin's words. The nin smirked knowingly. Neji remembered getting this kind of injury when he was younger.

If a Hyuga didn't focus their chakra to a needle-like point, the chakra would spread throughout the skin and muscles rather than cleanly pierce right through the chakra system leaving tenkentsu open when they struck but would overload the nerves in the area they hit instead, numbing them. It was never considered anything more than the mark of an unmastered Juken but it was shocking nonetheless to see an enemy use such an attack.

The fact that he, a prodigy in the Hyuga clan, was knocked down so easily by someone countering his Juken with an apparent knock off style told him he was in way over his head.

"From the look on your face, I can see that you understand how unbelievably fucked you and your friends are. Good."

Neji's eyes widened in pure, unadulterated fear as the rogue nin leapt towards him, his right fist cocked back and glowing with blue chakra.

A fist that Mativ launched with the intention of punching through his heart.

* * *

Splotches of red mixed with heaps of sand were all that was left of the Ame nin that confronted the red haired Genin. "Weak." He muttered to himself as his sand went back into his gourd. His head suddenly turned the left where he felt some killing intent.

A killing intent that could be felt by him despite not being in the user's focus showcased the strength of the one giving off the intent. This intrigued him greatly. He started walking in that direction as his older brother, a puppet user, picked up the scroll they needed. His sister, a blonde kunoichi wielding a battle fan, followed him, the massacre she witnessed keeping her silent for the moment.

Whoever this mysterious person was, he was strong.

His Mother demanded stronger blood.

He would give it to her.

To prove his existence.

* * *

**Author's Note**

First off, I want to give a shout out to my first reviewer and follower **onecsm**

You have no idea how excited I got when I saw that I had a review xD

Moving on.

It looks like Team Guy has gotten themselves into some serious trouble and not only that but a certain homicidal red head is making his way to the fight! Will Neji survive the next blow from this rogue nin who seems to know the inner workings of his clan's taijutsu? Will the red head prove to be a savior or just another nail in their coffin? Will something exciting finally happen to Naruto?

I don't know but feel free to guess!

Thanks for reading and please leave a review on your way out.


	4. Chapter 4

Deified Chapter 4

It all happened too fast for Neji to comprehend.

One second, he was about to get a hole through his chest and the next, he was ten feet away witnessing this rogue nin punch a clean hole into the ground. He saw that there was not a single crack surrounding the hole and not one blade of grass was misplaced by the impact. It was if the ground his fist touched simply moved out of the way.

Neji looked for his savior only to see Lee holding onto the back of his collar. "Lee?" He asked in complete disbelief, the look on his face asking how on earth Lee managed to save him. Lee nodded, the hidden question registering. "I saw his punch coming before you and Tenten. He underestimated us and telegraphed his move believing that none of us would be able to react in time."

Mativ pulled his fist out of the ground, shaking the dirt off as he turned to Lee and Neji. He looked behind himself to see a crater where a leg weight landed and a tree that was nearly run through by the other weight, an impressed whistle passing his lips. "That's some dedication to your craft right there." He declared casually.

Lee's eyebrows scrunched up as he frowned. The man dodged both of his weights with a practiced ease and that worried him. Neji managed to stand up next to him, his nose still bleeding quite a bit. "Where's Tenten?" He asked. As if to answer his question, a kunai with an explosive tag attached flew down from the tree canopies aimed for the man's right temple. He leaned his head back; the kunai rushing passed him. The man, in one fluid motion, grabbed the kunai's handle and promptly threw it back in the same direction

The tag exploded a few feet from its point of origin, the girl, Tenten, he believed her name was, being launched out by the force of the blast. Lee rushed after Tenten, much faster than expected Mativ noted, and caught the girl just as she was going to hit the ground.

Lee remained stoic even as the horrifying sight of his team mate registered in his head. She was covered in burns of various degrees, parts of her clothes were blown away, and wounds caused by shrapnel from the kunai were plentiful. The most grievous injury however was her lower right jaw. It was bleeding far worse than he'd like and if he wasn't mistaken…

A big chunk of muscle and bone was missing from her jaw as well.

Lee picked her up so she was riding piggyback and he made his way to Neji. All the while, Mativ simply watched.

* * *

An explosion was heard to his right. It sounded close.

Soon, Mother will have more blood.

* * *

He was toying with them. That was the only reason any of them were still alive.

At least that's what Neji concluded when Lee reached him with Tenten on his back. The man could've easily killed Lee while he was distracted by Tenten's injuries. Hell with all the blood he's lost, he was at this enemy's whim. But why would he not do away with them then? He made it clear before that if they escape, his plans, whatever they may be, would be endangered.

"Neji! We have to go! Tenten needs help!" Lee practically yelled into Neji's ears as he pulled on the Hyuga's arms snapping him out of his reflection.

Before he could follow Lee's advice to run for it though, he felt another hand clamped down on his right shoulder. "Who said I was going to let you go?" The voice sent a wave of pure terror through his body. Lee's scared visage confirmed his fears as he turned his head to see the rogue nin's impassive face.

An instant later, Neji was face down on the ground, his entire face numbed by the chakra laced backhand the man delivered to his face.

Lee, for his credit, ducked under the man's punch and jumped back, keeping a firm hold on Tenten the entire time. Most of the front of his torso was soaked in the girl's blood. The rogue leapt after him and continued his assault. Lee was forced to open his first gate just to keep up yet he kept taking hits every few seconds. Lee knew that he had a great durability but surely this man should be doing much more damage than he was. Why was he holding back?

An opening showed itself to him after a minute of mostly successful dodging. He opened the second gate for a boost which he used to send a fierce kick into the man's stomach propelling him backwards. Lee, using the impact of his kick, launched himself back as well to put more distance between the two.

* * *

Neji pushed himself off the ground onto his feet still disoriented from the back hand. He had to blink several times before an appalling realization came to him.

He was blind.

The chakra must've affected his optic nerves as well as his facial ones rendering him sightless. "No…no, no, no, no, no, NO!" Was all he could say as he stumbled around in a panic. He couldn't be blind! Everything, EVERYTHING, in his life as a shinobi hinged on his dojutsu! Without it, he was powerless, useless, and...weak. A cruel irony as he always looked down upon others for not matching his strength.

The knowledge that his sight would most likely come back in time escaped his mind in his currently panicked state.

He suddenly tripped over a small root and bumped into someone. His heart rate spiked. "Get off of me!" An unfamiliar voice demanded as he was roughly pushed away, making him fall onto his back. At least it wasn't the rogue shinobi. "P-p-please help me!" Neji managed to stutter out as he struggled to get back onto his two feet.

"Why should we help someone as pathetic as you?" Asked a female voice.

Pathetic. He has never been called pathetic before. It really drove home just how utterly _broken_ he was by this stranger he was arrogant enough to pick a fight with only a few minutes before.

Before he could give an answer, he felt something crawl up both of his legs which caused him to instinctively look down despite the lack of sight. A split second later, he was completely encased, save for his face, in what he believed was sand.

"You waste my time."

A searing pain went throughout Neji's body as the pressure from the sand around him increased exponentially causing him to scream in pure agony. His unfortunately short life flashed before his failed eyes and one last thought was in his head when he heard the final words of his life.

"Sand Burial."

This is how Fate deemed his life was to end.

* * *

Lee was bruised and breathing heavily. He was already at the third gate and yet his opponent kept matching him in terms of speed and maneuverability. Lee's head abruptly snapped to the direction of a scream. A scream that he recognized as belonging to his team mate. "Neji!" He yelled as he sprinted to the Hyuga at a break neck pace.

"Oh no you don't!" Mativ yelled as he chased after the green haired Genin.

* * *

The Genin's body dropped to the floor with a wet thud. The noise causing Kankuro and Temari to shudder. They could never get used to their younger brother's simple brutality.

Gaara remained stoic as his sand returned to his gourd. His Mother's voice was slowly becoming unbearable as he got closer to the source of the earlier killing intent. Apparently, she could feel this individual's power from here and grew more impatient with each second.

A sharp intake of air caught Gaara's attention. A Genin in green spandex stood about fifteen feet away near a tree, his mouth open in shock at the sight of his comrade's body. There was quite a bit of power radiating from this one but he could tell that it was not the individual he was looking for.

The Genin then jumped to the side as an older shinobi axe kicked the ground where the Genin used to be located only a split second earlier. The attack left a massive crater comparable to what an explosive tag would leave behind.

This is the one he was looking for.

"Could you stop pulling miracle last second escapes? It's getting annoying." Mativ said as he pulled his leg out of the ground. He then noticed the trio not too far away with the Hyuga's corpse in front of the red head. Fuck, that wasn't supposed to happen! "Great. One down but an extra three heads I have to cut off." He remarked, keeping his feelings about the Hyuga's death hidden from all.

None of them were actually _meant_ to die. He just wanted to rough them up, put the fear of God into them so to speak and then knock 'em out, steal their scroll, and wipe some memories away with a Yamanaka technique. They would wake up and assume that an attack from another squad of Genin left them in their states. A bit convoluted but it would work. Now, he would be forced to kill _everyone_ here to prevent him and Kakuzu from being found out.

He was disgusted with the idea of killing children but they unwittingly forced his hand. A faraway, grim satisfaction could be felt deep in his consciousness that he shook away. Meditation would be needed soon.

Mativ suddenly jumped away as a large spear of sand came up from the ground. "You…are strong. Your blood will please Mother." The red headed Genin said as the cork in his gourd popped off and his sand shot out at Mativ. Mativ once again jumped away from the surprisingly fast sand only for it to follow his movements. "If I don't end this quickly, I risk being found out…" Mativ muttered to himself as he jumped from tree to tree avoiding the deadly sand.

* * *

Lee wasted no time in using this reprieve from the chase and immediately opened the fourth and fifth gates. A massive outpouring of chakra came from his body as his skin darkened considerably and his eyes went blank. A green glow could be seen near his skin. He didn't want to take any chances when it came to saving his remaining teammate. Tenten was pale and he could see clear as day that she would die soon without medical attention.

And so he ran. He didn't care about the Chunin Exams anymore. He just wanted to leave this forest. He grabbed Neji by his collar making brief eye contact with the murderous red head. Cold, insane eyes met those of a conflicted young man. He should be grateful to this Genin for distracting the rogue long enough for him to escape but he also wanted to throttle him for killing his comrade.

He'll have time to sort out his thoughts on this later. Saving Tenten is the priority here, he told himself.

It took him only a few minutes for him to reach the fence that surrounded the forest. Almost conveniently, it turned out that it was where most of the Genin were initially gathered so the hospital should be…that way, he thought. He changed his course slightly and picked up his pace. His body was already **begging** for him to stop and rest but he refused to slow down for even a step despite the damage he was doing to himself.

He was jumping across roof tops now, each step leaving behind small craters from the power his gates gave him attracting the attention of locals and shinobi alike. Chunin, Jonin, and even some ANBU started to chase after him to try and stop him from doing anymore damage to the village but they were simply too slow.

Gai happened to be walking down the street when a green, pink, and gray blur that was pouring out chakra passed overhead stopping him dead in his tracks. Gai immediately jumped to a nearby rooftop to see what that was all about. A few seconds of observation later, he noticed that it was Lee carrying...his teammates?

A cold dread crept up Gai's spine. Tenten was burned all over, her trademark buns undone and singed at the ends of the hairs. Neji was damn near unrecognizable.

Gai raced after his students, leaving his own weights behind and activating the first gate to catch up to his student as soon as possible.

Lee was close to collapsing when he saw the hospital in the distance. "So…close…" He said to himself. He staggered however when he felt his heart start palpitating. He's been using the gates far too long and was close to cardiac arrest but he didn't care! As long as ONE of his team mates could survive, he would push himself past the point of no return to save them.

Three more leaps to the hospital.

Two more leaps.

One more.

Lee felt his heart finally give out causing him to collapse mid leap. In his last few moments of consciousness, he pushed Tenten off of his back and turned in mid-air. He grabbed her in a one armed hug and pulled her as well as Neji close to his body to protect their bodies. His own body crashed through the entrance, bounced once, and stopped when he hit the far wall with Tenten safe in his arms and Neji's body no more damaged than it already was.

"OH MY GOD!" Cried an indistinct voice.

"GET SOME MEDIC NINS IN HERE!" Yelled another.

Despite the chaos that erupted from his landing, Lee heard someone land at the entrance.

"LEE!" The familiar voice of his sensei rang out in his ears. He gave a weak smile before finally giving into the bliss that was death.

* * *

Mativ let out a string of curses that would make even the burliest of sailors blush. He tried to chase the Genin called Lee but the fact that he opened two more gates and that the red head delayed him just long enough, he lost the Genin. Now he and Kakuzu were potentially compromised.

A shadow clone appeared next to him as he landed on a tree branch. They look at each other and nod before turning to the sand barreling down at them.

Both starting going through seal sequences for two different techniques, finishing when the sand is a mere five feet from them.

Mativ took in a deep breath.

His clone did the same.

"Collaboration Technique: Breath of a Broken Earth!"

Mativ breathed out a compact column of fire hitting the sand dead on while his clone breathed out a spiraling wind that encased the fire both intensifying it to a white-hot appearance and keeping it compact and focused. It was a beautifully powerful technique that all but guaranteed the destruction of whatever was in its path.

Temari and Kankuro were left utterly gobsmacked as the technique turned all of Gaara's special sand into glass near instantaneously and _practically atomized_ tree trunks, plants, and whatever unfortunate animals were caught in its path. "Uh...sis?" Kankuro asked nervously as he turned his towards Temari with her doing the same.

"Yeah?"

They both flinched as the sound of a large mass of glass shattered on the forest floor signalling the end of the technique.

"I think he's way out o-" Kankuro was cutoff mid-sentence by an all too familiar killing intent.

Gaara was mad, no...he was _furious! _Far more than Kankuro has ever seen. He didn't take the loss of his special sand too well apparently. "Your death will be slow and agonizing." Gaara stated as if it was a simple fact which, if he had his way, would be true his siblings thought. He raised his hands up, two rising pillars of sand erupting from the floor at his command.

The two Mativs jumped to the floor and leapt towards Gaara, the two pillars of sand rushing after them in haste. Both of them reared their fists back and threw their punches at the sand wielding ninja only to be stop by a solid wall of sand stopping them dead. "Shit!" Mativ said as he and his clone were swallowed up by the sand pillars.

Gaara smiled.

* * *

Kakuzu found him relatively easily. Him and his team were only a few miles away and the idiot was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit which stood out in a dank, dark forest such as this.

"Hey Sasuke! It's your watch now!"

It helped that he was also pretty loud.

Kakuzu dropped down to the floor and walked at a leisurely pace towards the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. He was still a little peeved at that feminine Genin's arrogance so, given that this was an evaluation of the brat's skills with the tailed beast, he would use this time to vent a little bit.

It was unfortunate that he had to hold back but he would still try to enjoy this.

* * *

Hiruzen was looking over the list of what dignitaries and daimyo would attend the Chunin Exam fights that were to take place a month after the Forest of Death. A few minutes pass before he lets the papers drop to his desk and leans back in his chair out of frustration, taking a nice drag of his pipe as he did so.

Training Ground 44 had been giving off an unnatural feeling to him all day and it wasn't because of the Chunin Exams; he was certain of that. No, there was something in the Forest of Death that should not be there. He let out a sigh. Maybe he was getting paranoid because of his age.

Or at least that's what he thought until a Genin, Lee was his name, crashed into the hospital earlier. Not once had a Genin left the forest during the Chunin Exams before. The kid was clinically dead for 45 seconds before they were able to revive him. The kid began to mumble some incoherent sounds that in a panic before they were able to sedate him and proceed to work on him and his teammate.

The poor girl, her name was Tenten he believed, was missing part of her jaw and a lot of blood but the doctors said they would be able to save both of them. Neji's body was a disturbing sight as it appeared as if he'd been crushed from all directions at once. Hiashi will not take the news too well, Hiruzen noted.

As soon as Lee or Tenten woke up from their respective operations, they would have to be question but until then all he could do was wait. Though he preferred to be safe than sorry, he didn't want to send in ANBU and potentially cause a political controversy over some paranoia.

An opening window drew his attention to a grim-face Jiraiya. Odd, he usually tells him about his visits in advance. Casting a silencing jutsu on the room, he turned to Jiraiya. "Jiraiya, what news do you bring?" Hiruzen asked in a no-nonsense voice. Jiraiya nodded in acknowledgement. This information was too important to waste time on pleasantries.

"Orochimaru is dead."

The Hokage was _not _prepared for that as evidenced by his pipe falling from his now open mouth. Jiraiya would not let him recover however.

"Apparently, he was killed by 'two guys wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them'."

"Akatsuki?" Hiruzen asked still reeling from the news that his monster of a student had been killed.

"It appears so. According to a few of my newer sources, he was the Otokage and was amassing a large force of ninja to invade Konoha with."

He straightened up instantly. "Are you saying that the Oto nin in the village are all potentially spies for Otogakure?"

"Yes."

"Who are your sources again?" Hiruzen asked.

"Five Oto nin who claimed to be Orochimaru's elite bodyguards turned missing-nin. According to one of them 'some orange headed fucktard with a freaky looking entourage made everyone in the village his bitch' prompting them to leave as it was not Orochimaru leading them. She didn't exactly have the most ladylike mouth." Jiraiya chuckled. "So they're spilling all the village secrets as some form of underhanded revenge. They all had curse marks on them which gives their story legitimacy."

"We'll have to discuss these matters with the new Otokage then." The Sandaime said contemplatively as he deactivated the silencing jutsu he put up. Hiruzen pressed a button on his desk. "Yes, Hokage?" Asked a female voice, presumably his secretary. "Call for any and all available ANBU captains." The Sandaime demanded in a commanding voice.

"Sir?" She asked a bit shocked at his tone.

"Now."

It appears my paranoia wasn't unfounded, Sarutobi thought to himself with a bitter smirk.

* * *

_**Omake #2**_

"You realize I won't help you if anything goes wrong, right?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head Kakuzu, I've seen the video several dozen times so I know what I'm doing."

A growl was heard. "Fine." Kakuzu sprinted away to a point a couple hundred yards down the road and prepared a camera.

"Is it rolling?!" He heard Mativ cry out in the distance.

"Yes!" He yelled back.

Mativ jumped onto the two horse-drawn carriages, his right foot on the railing at the edge of the right carriage's roof and his left foot on the railing of the left carriage.

He looked directly at the camera down the road.

"This is Mativ's Epic Split! Go horsies!" The horses responded to his call and began to walk down the road; every few steps making the distance between two carriages increase slightly.

"Faster!" Mativ yelled as he threw a kunai near the foot of one of the lead horses causing it to panic and run in a full blown gallop which in turn made all the other horses gallop from a non-existent threat.

"Oh, this will be good." Muttered Kakuzu as the carriage began spreading apart forcing Mativ into a split much faster than the nin would've liked.

"Kakuzu!" Mativ yelled, in a much higher pitch, Kakuzu noted. "Help!" His face became flustered as he grabbed onto his pain filled crotch, using his chakra to keep his feet stuck to the railing and keep the carriages together.

"I'm actually enjoying this." Said a chuckling Kakuzu.

An hour later, a nearby hospital admitted a shinobi with a broken arm and several pulled leg/crotch muscles and presumably his companion who had to be treated for exhaustion from laughing too long.

The corresponding video went viral on NinjaTube with several million views.

* * *

**Author's Note**

And that's where I think I'll end it.

It sounds like Pain already subjugated Otogakure and Hiruzen is preparing to purge Konoha of Oto's ninja. Neji's dead, Mativ's apparently caught in Gaara's sand, and Team 7 will have to face off against the Immortal Kakuzu.

How will this pan out in the near future?

You'll have to wait until the next update!

Thanks for reading, leave a review, Happy (late) Thanksgiving, and all that jazz.

For anyone wondering, the video Mativ talks about is called Volvo Trucks - The Epic Split feat. Van Damm

Watch it, it's awesome.


	5. Chapter 5

Deified Chapter 5

In front of the Hokage and Jiraiya stood three ANBU captains, all focused on him like only the most experienced of shinobi can.

"Three minutes ago, we received intelligence that Otogakure was planning an invasion on Konoha. This gives us reason to believe that most, if not all, of the Oto nin in the village are spies."

Hiruzen looked over the captains for any reactions to the admittedly shocking news. He saw none. He expected nothing less from his men.

"You are to take however many ANBU you deem necessary and search the village for any and all Oto nin. Bring them in for interrogation, no exceptions. Any questions?"

"Sir, what do you mean by 'was planning an invasion'?" The captain to the Hokage's right asked.

"Otogakure has been subjugated by a new Kage however the orders still stand. For all we know, the new Kage might continue with these plans." Hiruzen repeated.

"Yes, Sir." The three exclaimed in unison before disappearing with shunshins.

"Jiraiya." The Hokage turned to the Toad Sannin. "I want you to head to the Forest of Death as well."

"Do you mind if I ask why?" Jiraiya asked with a raised eyebrow. It seemed a bit much to send a Sannin to gather some Genin spies.

"The forest has been giving off a strange..." Hiruzen's eyebrows scrunched together as he tried to think of an appropriate word. "...aura of sorts for the last hour and I want you to figure out what it is. It might just be some paranoia from my old age but with these plans of invasion you uncovered, I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Jiraiya nodded and promptly shunshined.

The Hokage sighed as he looked upon the Forest of Death in the distance.

"I'm getting too old for this."

* * *

**Several minutes beforehand**

Kakuzu walked from out of the trees as the target switched with the one called Sasuke. The traps surrounding their encampment were easily avoided. His purposefully heavy footsteps alerted the two and they responded in kind, pulling out kunai and adopting defensive stances.

The blond pointed an accusatory finger at Kakuzu. "Hey, buddy!" The brat has a way with words apparently. "What are you doing here? You don't look like a Genin!" An astute observer too.

Kakuzu noticed that Sasuke had the sharingan causing him to groan internally. This must be Itachi's younger brother. He will have to avoid seriously harming him if he didn't want Itachi's wrath brought down upon him.

"Guys, what's going on?" Sighed a young pink haired kunoichi who was apparently woken up by the Jinchuuriki's outburst. Her two teammates took their attention off of Kakuzu momentarily. A fatal mistake if this were any other case.

Kakuzu grabbed two shuriken from one of his pouches and launched them at the two male shinobi. It was more of a light toss to Kakuzu but the man had superhuman strength as evidenced by a shuriken disappearing inside the tree trunk behind Sasuke who barely managed to jumped out of the way.

The Jinchuuriki wasn't so lucky as the shuriken passed right through his bicep when he tried to dodge.

'Above average reflexes for a Genin.' Noted Kakuzu.

Naruto inhaled sharply through clenched teeth. That really hurt!

"_Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_" Naruto turned his head to see Sasuke shoot a big ball of flames at the shinobi who was seemingly engulfed. "Nice one, Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed at the apparent victory.

Both her and Naruto were shocked to see Sasuke suddenly keel over and fall to the ground. "Can't have you in the way." A gruff voice murmured. The nin's hand was held flat showing that he knocked out Sasuke.

"You bastard!" Screamed Naruto as he let fly three kunai, his arm already healed by the Kyuubi.

'Standard healing abilities of a Jinchuuriki yet noticeably faster than anticipated. Doesn't seem to be one for strategy though.'

Two of the kunai bounced off of Kakuzu' arm, his Earth Spear more than a match for the feeble equipment. The third one was caught easily enough. Kakuzu's sneer was practically visible through his mask. "Hey little girl, see if you can catch this." A light flick of his wrist followed his statement and the kunai raced through the air at a much faster speed than his previous throw with the shuriken.

Naruto's eyes would've popped out of his head had he had the time. Instead he reacted, his body moving before his mind could register the sheer speed of the kunai. It was a sheer miracle that Naruto made it in time to take the kunai's impact. To his shock, the shinobi tool merely passed through his right shoulder as if it was paper.

The sudden pain in his shoulder made Naruto stumble and fall onto his injury eliciting a cry of pain from the blond. Sakura, frozen in place out of fear, was impaled through the right side of her chest by the kunai. The impact knocked her onto her back. Her head connected with a rock and rendered her unconscious.

Naruto, hearing the crack of Sakura's head against stone, turned his body so he could have a look and his blood ran cold at the sight. The kunai was sticking out of Sakura's chest and her eyes were closed.

A pained cry escaped Naruto when he witnessed the sight in front of him. This couldn't have happened!

Sakura is dead!

* * *

"Sand Burial!"

The sand that surrounded the nin Gaara captured imploded. When he looked around however, he saw papers with seals instead of blood in the air.

"Get down!" Exclaimed Kankuro as he and Temari dived behind the thick trees to escape the subsequent explosion. Gaara, unused to any threats making it past his sand, did not have the reaction time necessary and was blown back 70 feet into a tree. In spite of his sand armor, he found himself in immense pain when he fell face first into the cold hard ground.

Before he could rage against this man for hurting him, Gaara noticed a shadow overtake him. He looked up to see his enemy rise up ominously out of the ground without a scratch. A hand grabbed his face and pulled him off of the ground. He tried to pull the Nan's hand off of his head but his lack of even the most basic taijutsu training made it impossible.

Why wasn't his sand defending him? Even his sand armor was falling apart at this man's touch. What happened?! His sand was working perfectly earlier!

In his rage over these unforeseen circumstances, Gaara didn't notice the subtle changes in Mativ but Kankuro and Temari could. He had streaks of white running through his black hair and an unfamiliar seal on his forehead. It appeared to be a dead tree but from that distance it was hard to tell.

"I knew I felt it..." Muttered Mativ in a soft, almost sorrowful voice. It had been almost 300 years but he still remembered. The chakra in this boy felt exactly like hers except there was a taint to it. it was vile...rotten...a complete bastardization of the chakra that gave him life.

It was on a hunch that Mativ activated his second stage. In his first, his chakra is no different from any other shinobi's but from his second onward, the true nature of his chakra is revealed. Even with her corruption, she absolutely refused to hurt him. His face hardened. "You're a Jinchuuriki." Gaara's eyes narrowed as that proclamation made it through his rage. "I. Will. _Kill_. You." He hissed venomously through clenched teeth.

"No, you won't."

A simple left hook was all it took to knock Gaara out now that his sand armor was gone.

He threw the Genin over his right shoulder and turned to the other two who were frozen in place by the ease in which he beat their sibling. Mativ felt some large chakra signatures entering the forest; ANBU most likely. One easily had Kage level reserves however.

He and Kakuzu were definitely compromised. Killing the Genin was pointless now. One last look at them and then he was off to find his partner.

Suddenly, he felt a familiar chakra.

One he hadn't felt in 12 years.

The Kyuubi.

* * *

Kakuzu was disappointed by the Jinchuuriki. The brat's anger drew out the first tail of the Kyuubi but even that little caused him to go in a frenzy.

At the same time however, he was mildly impressed. He was surrounded by at least a thousand shadow clones. All of which had the red, slitted eyes, claws, and thickened whisker marks the original now possessed.

"You'll pay for hurting my friends!" The original thundered in a noticeably more feral voice. Kakuzu chuckled.

"_Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!_" To Kakuzu's right, several dozen clones were popped instantly by a water dragon being ridden by Mativ. Kakuzu noticed that he was in his second stage.

The dragon crashed into the ground popping a dozen more clones while Mativ jumped onto the tree branch that Kakuzu stood on. "We need to get the hell out of the village!" Mativ exclaimed as he adjusted the boy on his shoulder.

"A squad of shinobi, most likely ANBU, are in the forest accompanied by another with Kage level reserves. I think we've been compromised."

"How the hell did this happen?! And who are you carrying?" Kakuzu growled.

"I'll explain later now let's go!" The rogue nin found their path blocked by the blond Jinchuuriki's clones when they turned to leave.

"Who the hell said you could leave?!" Roared Naruto as his clones began to attack the two nins.

Several thick tendrils shot out of Kakuzu which pierced multiple clones and subsequently popped them while Mativ formed seals with his hands faster than the eye could see. Lightning coursed through Mativ's arms.

He lifted them up with his fingers spread out. "_Rage of the Raiju!_" Dozens of lightning bolts shot out of his fingers and wiped out all of the clones in his field of vision in a matter of seconds. The lightning was indiscriminate in its destruction taking out clones, trees, and whatever unlucky animal that happened to be nearby.

Mativ, slightly winded by his jutsu, ran for it as soon as the technique ended. Kakuzu followed right after. A roar was heard from Naruto as a massive hand made of the Kyuubi's chakra chased after the two rogues. Mativ noticed and jumped in its path as it came down on Kakuzu. The chakra dispersed in the presences of Mativ, nullifying the attack and confirming Mativ's earlier thoughts.

Naruto, fully prepared to chase these two to the ends of the earth, picked up a low groan with his now enhanced hearing. He turned around and saw Sakura move, a wave of relief overcame his rage and forced the chakra cloak to recede. "Sakura?"

Sakura's eyes fluttered open to the sight of a thousand worried blonds but a searing pain made itself known before she could be shock. All the clones popped out of existence as Naruto went over to check on Sakura. He nervously looked her over for any injuries but he didn't know anything about dealing with injuries!

Another groan reached Naruto's ears as Sasuke stood up on shaky legs. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs in his head. "Where did he go?" He asked in reference to the man they'd been fighting. "Forget about him! Sakura's hurt. Badly too!"

Sasuke eye's went wide with that and he rushed over. He crouched down next to Sakura but while he knew more than Naruto about wounds like these, he was equally clueless about treating them. He knew enough to stop Naruto from trying to pull out the kunai. "No, that'll make her bleed out faster."

"Well, damn it Sasuke! What the hell can we do?! She could die!" Naruto practically screamed the words out in a panicked tone. "Shut up! You're going to attract unwanted attention." Sasuke retorted in a whisper.

"I swear I heard someone over here."

Both Naruto and Sasuke spun around so fast you could have sworn they broke their own necks but their worry was mostly unfounded as Kiba made his way around a nearby tree along with his teammates Hinata and Shino. "I do not understand the point of rushing towards potential enemies, Kiba. Did you not feel the power that was coming from this particular direction?" Said Shino in his emotionless, logical tone. Akamaru, from inside Kiba's jacket, barked to accentuate Shino's point.

"No need to worry, Shino. It's just Naruto and his team."

"N-Naruto?" Exclaimed a now blushing Hinata.

"Kiba, Shino, Hinata!" A relieved Naruto yelled. "Please help us, Sakura's hurt!"

Hinata, the first to react to the outcry, walked over and knelt down next to Sakura who was coming in and out of consciousness. While teams weren't exactly _supposed_ to help each other, there was no rule against it. "What happened?" Shino asked suddenly. "My bugs detected the presence of some...malevolent chakra earlier and they can feel remnants of it all over this area."

"It must've been who we were fighting earlier." Naruto quickly said thinking on his feet. He didn't want his friends knowing about the Kyuubi. He didn't want them to view him with hate like the villagers. "Care to explain?" Shino asked skeptically.

The next few minutes were occupied by Naruto telling the story, censoring the part where he lost himself to the Kyuubi, Hinata working on Sakura, and the guys listening intently to Naruto's recollection of the fight. By the end of the story, Sakura was sleeping peacefully in their cave all bandaged up sans kunai.

"...and that's where you guys come in."

"That's not fair! How come you get to face some super strong enemy?" Complained Kiba.

"From what Naruto has told us, the nin that they faced was clearly holding back. He could have easily killed all three, Kiba." Retorted Shino which cause Kiba to look down like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar while Akamaru let out a small whine at his owner's apparently killed enthusiasm.

"I-I've done what I can but Sakura needs a medic nin as soon as possible." Hinata whispered softly not wanting to disturb Sakura. She quickly cleaned up her medicinal supplies and stood up only to blush furiously when Naruto gave her a hug. "Thank you Hinata!"

It took all of Hinata's willpower to not faint in Naruto's arms as well as force out her next sentence. "N-no p-problem, N-Naruto."

* * *

**The Next Day**

Pain was angry...no...he was positively **_livid_**.

"The Ichibi was not _yours _to capture. Nor was it the time I _explicitly_ said to capture it." He stated with a calm facade but from his stiff mannerisms, he was barely maintaining it.

"I saw a chance to forward our plans and I took it." Mativ's projection argued. "Besides, I remember you saying that the Biju can be absorbed in any order except for the Kyuubi which has to be last so I don't see the problem."

"The problem is that you ignored orders!" In spite of Pain continuing to speak with an unnatural calm, that last statement felt like he yelled at the top of his lungs. The massive spike in killing intent that came with it didn't help either as evidenced by Kakuzu shivering. Yet again, Mativ was unaffected.

"Pain, take a second to calm yourself." A mildly nervous Konan asked. "While their noncompliance is intolerable, they did do it to further our ends."

The killing intent eased off as Konan spoke showing that their Leader was calming down somewhat. "Gather the Akatsuki and meet here at the end of the week at noon. as for you two..." Pain shot a glare at Mativ. "Do. Not. Disobey. Again. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Sir." The duo spoke in unison.

"You are dismissed."

* * *

**At The Hokage's Office**

"A Kyuubi Event? Are you certain?"

"Yes, The chakra was unmistakable however brief our exposure to it was."

One of the Kazekage's kids was kidnapped by a rogue nin posed as an Oto Jounin and the man had a partner by the looks of it according to Naruto. Needless to say, Hiruzen was worried. This will open a political can of worms that he just did not want to deal with.

At least Hiruzen can take some solace in Naruto and his friends somehow finishing the Forest of Death only a few hours after Jiraiya and his fellow squad of ANBU got the account from Naruto. Funny enough, they defeated the Oto Genin that they were searching for their scroll. Life is strange like that.

"I think we should cancel the exams." Jiaraiya suddenly stated bluntly. The thought had been stirring within his head since finding out about the invasion but with the news of a pair of rogue nin being in the village had convinced him to bring the idead up to the Hokage.

The Hokage said. He'd been pondering the same thing himself. The village was in a precarious position as it stands and was not fit to host the Chunin Exams for now. "I'll make the announcement tomorrow. The Chunin Exams are over." Jiraiya nodded and turned to leave.

"Jiraiya."

The commanding tone in which the Hokage spoke to him caused Jiraiya to nearly stumble. He turned around. "Yes, Sir?"

"I want you to take Naruto out of the village and train him. Whoever these shinobi were, they were targeting him specifically. I want him to be ready if he ever encounters them again."

Jiraiya nodded in acknowledgement. If anything, he was planning on training his godson soon...eventually...probably. "I'll train him."

"How soon do you believe before you believe he'll be ready to come back?"

"Hard to say but, this is a shot in the dark, three years should do it."

* * *

Author's Note

Long time no see!

Winter break is coming soon so my teachers are just (inexplicably) piling on the homework so very little time to write this lately.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review!


	6. Chapter 6

Deified Chapter 6

_**2 Weeks After The Events in Konoha**_

Mativ was meditating in the trees just outside of one of the Akatsuki's hideouts in Kawa no Kuni. Soon after the extraction of Suna's Biju, he had a splitting headache. Having a guess as to what was causing it, Mativ waited until Kakuzu was asleep and found himself a secluded area.

He contemplated his actions and thoughts during the Forest of Death fiasco. He had wanted to keep those kids alive yet he intentionally threw that explosive kunai at the right distance away from its target to maim that girl. It would've been child's play to beat the green one to an pulp yet he merely toyed with him. He knew he could have saved the Hyuga when he sensed those chakra signatures near him but he didn't. He even felt a sick glee that directly contradicted his higher thoughts. This recent headache only added to the abnormality of his situation.

He needed some answers.

Opening his eyes, he found himself in a desolated wilderness with the smoldering corpses of various creatures unknown to man and the ruins of a once luscious forest. A bitter sigh departed him as a black blur appeared behind him to his right.

"How is she?" Inquired Mativ. The figure, unknowingly repeating his earlier action, sighed as well. Mativ resisted the urge to smirk when he turned. He and his brother, Sutalov, were far more alike than either will care to admit. But while they were alike in personality, they were much more distinctive in appearance.

Where Maitv liked to dress light with only his Akatsuki robe, shinobi pants, and sandals, his brother was decked out in a futuristic suit of dull gray armor with a claymore strapped to his side. Mativ had black, shaggy hair and strikingly white eyes; he had brown hair that was spiked up and emerald eyes with shuriken shaped pupils. Mativ's skin had a light tan and his brother was a pale as a Hyuga.

Another distinguishing feature was the four black wings coming out the back of his armor which Mativ was jealous of ever since he could remember.

"This is the worst state I've ever seen her in." Responded Sutalov as he ran his hand through his hair and dropped it back to his side. "She did all this a few seconds after Pain began his..." He scowled and his fists clenched. "...preparations for the extraction." Mativ noticed his brother's actions earning him a pang of concern. Sutalov was a stoic individual if nothing else. If any emotion showed, it usually meant that he was feeling it to a _much_ greater extent on the inside.

Mativ put a calming hand on his brother's right shoulder causing him to relax, if a miniscule amount. "I know you're angry brother but you must be patient."

"Have I not been?!" Sutalov suddenly snapped at Mativ. "How long have we been in this prison of ours, Mativ?! 300 years? 500? _A thousand_?! _I can't tell anymore!_" Sutalov suddenly grabbed his claymore with a single hand and swung it ferociously releasing a blast of wind that carved a half-mile trench into the ground in his anger. The clang of his claymore being dropped to the ground was heard but neither seemed to acknowledge it. A moment of silence followed.

"I can feel myself fading away, Mativ...along with this realm you created." He murmured in a much more subdued tone.

Mativ's stomach dropped at that revelation. An explosion was heard in the distance. They ignored it. "The seal is degrading?" Sutalov nodded.

The seal's degradation would explain his slipping control of his own mind. The influence of the seal's inhabitants is leaking through.

"And with it, us. Seals like the one you used to contain us were never meant to last so long. I lost my sense of smell not too long ago. Aitiveas is losing a little more of her sanity everyday." Their ears bore witness to an inhuman roar that was much closer to them than the earlier explosion. "She lost quite a bit more when she saw..."

Mativ took this as his cue to calm his sister down. "I'll take care of her."

Sutalov let out a deep breath and nodded. "Good luck."

* * *

A young white-haired woman stood in a newly created clearing just fuming as she sought to regain control of herself. To anyone who did not know her, she might've been a barbarian with her loose-fitting clothes being made out of orange animal hide. Her dark complexion contrasted sharply with the light gray dirt beneath her well worn boots. She took hold of her of herself in a desperate attempt to keep herself from rearranging the already broken landscape but it was for not as a stray thought made its way to the forefront of her mind.

_Have these humans no respect?!_

An enraged swipe of her arms flattened a nearby acre of trees.

_No honor?!_

She took in a deep breath and let loose a torrent of flames amidst the agonized cries of the wildlife that were unfortunate enough to exist in her field of vision.

_No. Goddamn. CLUE?!_

These thoughts and more were running through her head as she heaved a massive boulder above her head and threw it, flattening the corpses and burned out husks that were left.

She felt a presence behind her and whirled around, her arm outstretched to take the head off whomever stood there only to be stopped when Mativ took a firm hold of her wrist. "It's been a while, sister." Her glowing purple eyes suddenly dimmed at the sight of her brother.

"_Let go of me,_ _Mativ_!" She spat out in horrifyingly venomous tones that had been known to give older mortals heart attacks. "Only if you calm down, Aitiveas." She launched a swipe across Mativ's face with her free hand causing her nails to dig into his face and leave some deep cuts. Mativ's head only moved half an inch despite the force of the blow. 'They are weakening. A blow with that kind of ferocity behind it would've broken my jaw normally.' Mativ thought as he grabbed her other wrist with his free hand.

"I said let me go!" She tugged fruitlessly against her brother's superior stength. "Let me go! Lemme go! _Lemmegolemmegolemmego_!" With one final tug, she fell to her knees in exhaustion as the adrenaline from her anger left her. A sob left her against her will. Mativ lifted her up onto her feet and held her as a cascade of tears made their way unbidden down her face. "How could they do that to her, Mativ?"

'It seems Sutalov wasn't exaggerating...'

The sound of Sutalov landing nearby caught their attention. Speak of the devil. "Alright, now that we're all together..." Mativ separated himself from his sister as Sutalov took his place next to Mativ. The man seemed to have calmed himself down enough to resume his stoic personality.

"How long until the biju are captured, Mativ? You've seen the damage the deterioration of the seal has caused so far, you know we won't last for much longer."

"What's preventing you from getting us some bodies to occupy? That way we wouldn't have to worry about the seal." Aitiveas inquired suddenly, all traces of her previous anger and mental anguish gone. The ease in which it occurred unnerved her brothers.

"Your chakra would turn anything other than Original Flesh to stone; Sutalov's bakes anything other than Original Flesh. I drew the biological lottery with my chakra being compatible with human bodies..."

"A fact we undoubtedly appreciate you for."

"...At least that's what all of my experiments showed a few years back. The only way to create Original Flesh right now is with the chakra of a Biju. To answer your question Sutalov, I don't know. If I just used my All-Seeing Technique to locate all the Jinchuuriki and captured them myself, I would still have to deal with Pain and the rest of the Akatsuki most likely becoming hostile towards me. As strong as I am, taking on over half a dozen S-Ranked shinobi is too much for me to handle. However if Pain had his way, only he knows how long it would take."

"Kill Pain then." The brothers each raised an eyebrow at the idea. Aitiveas huffed. "The Akatsuki follow Pain for two reasons: The promise of power and fear. They were seduced by the prospect of controlling a weapon of mass destruction created by this 'God' and stay because they fear his strength. Kill him and the Akatsuki will follow you for the same reasons. Boom, we can get the Jinchuuriki on our timetable."

"That...is not a bad idea, Aitiveas." Sutalov muttered contemplatively. "We can challenge him on his home turf of Amegakure. Kill the God in front of the worshipers and they will despair. It will make exterminating them far easier." He started methodically rubbing his chin.

"And if Pain is too much?"

"He won't be. He's only human..." Aitiveas snapped with a bitter tone, her temporary sanity already waning.

"...even if he has that bastard's eyes."

* * *

Mativ opened his eyes an hour later. After finalizing Sutalov's plan for a one man munity of an S-Rank criminal organization, the siblings decided to catch up with each other while he did his best to repair the damage that his sister caused.

As for the reversing the seal's degradation, it was deemed impossible by Mativ. The seal that held his siblings in him and their chakra at bay was so impossibly complex that it would take him _years _to get it to an adequate condition and if he missed even one flaw, the entire thing could collapse on itself in time. Seals were a bitch to handle.

Mativ stood up and stretched before going back to his and Kakuzu's camp to sleep.

* * *

_"I wonder if the idiot realizes he speaks while he meditates." _

"If he's anything like the rest of us, he's spent most of his life alone. Probably never realized it."

_"Leader is going to be furious. Let's not keep him waiting."_

"Okay."

The plant-human hybrid known as Zetsu slunk back into the tree from which he observed Mativ and set off to relay his new found information to Pain.

* * *

_**The Next Day**_

It took more willpower than Pain cared to acknowledge to not crush Zetsu in his anger. A God doesn't kill his loyal followers. "Begone from my sight!" He thundered at the plant man who cowered beneath the power of his voice. Once he gathered himself enough to form coherent thoughts, Zetsu complied without hesitation.

"Send a message to the traitor. I want him in Amegakure immediately so I can deal with him myself!" Pain roared to Konan in a rare display of his lost composure. Konan obeyed his order without delay as she feared she would not be spared retribution if she was not careful. The only other time this happened was when Orochimaru tried to take Itachi's body.

That was a horrifying week for everyone.

* * *

**Author's Note**

I'm reeeeeaaaally sorry for taking longer than normal as well as for the short chapter. A lack of inspiration and writer's block suck.

I'll try to make it up with the next chapter.

Anyways, thanks for reading and feel free to point out what I did wrong and how I can fix it or sing my praises. I'm fine with either one .


	7. Chapter 7

Deified Chapter 7

"If there was such a thing as being too convenient, this would be a perfect example..." Muttered Matov to himself as he read the message from Pain demanding his presence. "You would do well to not keep him waiting." Grumbled a mildly groggy Kakuzu. Apparently the man was not a morning person.

"Why would he want to talk to me face to face though?"

"In the first week you've been in this organization, you killed Orochimaru, gained us an entire hidden village along with numerous secret bases, and an additional spy network..."

"You sure know how to treat a man Kakuzu."

Kakuzu growled, to no one's surprise, before continuing.

"...then you went to Konoha, grabbed the Ichibi (against Leader's orders), and compromised us. You're all over the place. He probably wants to rein you in."

"So...you think this is a disciplinary hearing of sorts?"

Kakuzu chuckled in a morbid manner. "Sure, call it that."

"Well, to Amegakure then. Don't want to keep him waiting, right?"

* * *

**Present Time**

"_Almighty Push!_"

A bloody and battered Mativ is sent rocketing through two nearby skyscrapers by the Pain's vicious attack only to stop in the wall of a third.

He tried to pull himself out; he had to continue this fight! But it was to no avail, he was simply too weak at this point. The pain that should've racked his body has been gone for who knows how long in his brain's attempts to keep his all too mortal body going! Through barely open eyes, he saw the Animal and Preta Paths appear behind Deva.

"This is what happens when you rebel against God." Pain spoke in a clipped tone as if it disgusted him to no end just talking to this heretic! If Mativ could have chuckled, he would've. Unfortunately, he would have to settle for a barely noticeable smile.

He never expected for his day to go this far south...

* * *

**An Hour Beforehand**

Amegakure is known for one thing and one thing only.

Constant rain.

However it came as a shock to Mativ, who has never visited Ame before, when a veritable monsoon of rain suddenly poured down on him and Kakuzu. Kakuzu wore the standard straw hat of the Akatsuki which kept his head and part of his upper body dry; Mativ, neglecting to wear his, was soaked to the bone.

"I know this is the Land of Rain and everything but this is fucking ridiculous." He grumbled to his partner who chuckled at Mativ's dismay. Mativ looked around, spitting out some rain that got into his mouth, and noticed something strange about the weather.

It was infused with chakra. It was too even throughout for it to have been added after the rain came and the sheer scope of the chakra's coverage, which extended farther out than Mativ could sense, made it unwieldy for an offensive jutsu. This meant that whatever technique the rain was a part of is meant for surveillance. In essence, they were being watched. One might consider his conclusion to be mere paranoia but paranoia is a shinobi's best friend.

Mativ's thoughts were interrupted by the ray of sunshine alongside him. "There's the gates. Remember, this is Leader's village; don't do anything even remotely stupid."

"Yes, mother."

Normally, one would have to go through various security checks and safety procedures before Ame would even think of letting strangers pass through its gates. Wearing the same robes as the village's God however will exempt you from such things as they would not want to delay anything relating to him. 'Every job has its perks' Mativ thought smugly as the duo made their way to the residence of their leader.

Several minutes pass by before Kakuzu noticed something peculiar about the village. "Where are all the people?" He asked as he extended his senses outward. Kakuzu's chakra detection skills were sloppy at best as he never trained in doing so but you don't live a century in the shinobi world without picking the skill up. As for what he was able to detect, there were very few chakra signatures nearby and all were minimum Chunin level in size. No civilians. The rain intensified. "There should be more even if it is a minor village."

Mativ nodded. "I know what you mean. The few that I detect myself are spread out. Pretty evenly too...like they're making a perimeter." That observation put the both of them on edge. Why would a shinobi village establish a perimeter inside its own walls?

"Keep an eye-WHOA!"

An unseen force suddenly pulled Mativ off his feet mid sentence only to drop him after he gained quite a bit of momentum. He fell face first and slid along the wet path stopping at the feet of some shinobi.

"Kakuzu, if you value your life, leave us be."

Kakuzu, recognizing the voice, instantly complied and made himself scarce. Mativ pushed himself back onto his feet, his face sporting some new, albeit shallow, cuts. He took a few steps back if only to put some distance between himself and Pain.

Mativ straightened himself out popping his spine. "What was that for?" Pain levelled a glare at Mativ that made him far more wary than he already was. Four shadows appeared in Mativ's peripheral vision to his left and right. The killing intent that followed their appearance made him take another step back.

"I know of your plan to kill me." The rain cleared up revealing the shadows to be four individuals pierced in similar fashion to Pain, had bright orange hair (save for one who was bald), and wearing Akatsuki robes. Needless to say, Mativ was a bit weirded out. Imitation is a form of flattery but this was a bit much.

"How did you find out?"

Pain elected to ignore Mativ's question as he spread his arms in a gesture to the four nearby copies who began to move around Mativ. "Let me introduce you to the Six Paths of Pain."

'Six?' He reached out with his senses and found another chakra behind Pain. 'There it is.'

Pain raised his right hand. "_Almighty Push!_" A crushing pressure slammed into Mativ sending him flying head over heels while the Asura Path appeared behind him and slammed a shin into his back sending him back to Pain.

A black rod appeared in Pain's outstretched hand poised to impale him. It did and the shock on Mativ's face from his evidently quick defeat was a satisfying sight to Pain.

At least it was until Mativ liquefied. Pain's eyes narrowed. 'A water clone.'

"_Second Stage: Awakening!_"

A flare of chakra in the distance was followed by Asura landing next to Pain with a massive dent in the side of his head.

Mativ, now with white streaks in his hair and a dead tree seal on his forehead, shook his right hand and clenched it repeatedly.

"Normally I would say a one liner but you almost got me there so..." His hands lit up with chakra and he adopted a modified Jyuuken stance. "...I'll give you the privilege of being taken seriously."

Abruptly the battlefield erupted into a beautiful chaos as the Animal Path summoned a massive rhino that charged after Mativ while the other Paths move around the battlefield to remove any potential blind spots. Mativ flipped over the beast with a grace not unlike an experience dancer and punched the animal's back before hitting the ground running once more.

The Rhino immediately collapsed with its spine severed by Mativ's chakra and popped out of existence. Mativ raced towards Pain at a speed too fast for even experienced Jonin to follow but it was all for not. "_Almighty Push._" Again Mativ was pushed back but he was able to land on his feet this time.

Asura came in from his right and threw him a left hook that Mativ easily dodged by leaning his head back. What he did NOT expect however was two more left arms to come out from inside the cloak and knock the wind out of his lungs with bone crushing blows to his stomach.

Recovering quickly, Mativ attempted to lobotomize his opponent with a chakra infused punch to his skull. His hand was swiftly caught by one of Asura's right arms. It was small satisfaction to see the back of Asura's hand blow up from his punch.

He had no time to be shocked by the mechanical parts that sprayed across his grinning opponent's face as a metal tail shot out of Asura's back and tried to impale Mativ. 'Was this thing even alive?' Even with his admittedly justifiable shock, he jumped away and avoided the tail.

A roar from behind was all the warning Mativ received as the rhino from earlier charged him. He managed to turn around in time and held out his hands. The Rinnegan-infused animal was stopped in its tracks by Mativ although not instantly as the 15 foot trail his feet dug out in the ground testified.

'How is this thing even here?! I severed its spine and it disappeared! Even summoner animals couldn't heal from those kinds of injuries!'

Mativ's thoughts were interrupted as a drill beaked bird came swooping in from his left. In an impressive feat of strength, Mativ pulled the Rhino forward moving himself out of the way and making the bird impale its ally. The sudden stop caused by the rhino's bulk broke the bird's neck instantly and both animals popped in clouds of smoke.

"_Universal Pull._" Mativ was yanked off of his feet once more towards Pain with the Preta Path alongside him who had its arms outstretched. Mativ was caught in a bear hug by Preta who turned so Mativ was facing Pain.

"Do you see the futility of your struggle against me?" The self-proclaimed deity asked him.

"I'm a little more stubborn than you'd like to believe."

Mativ popped as the last of his chakra was absorbed by Preta. "_Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!_" Two hands grabbed Preta who was promptly pulled into the ground so only its head showed. Four shadow clones, two on Pain's right and two more on his left, jumped out of the earth.

All finished up differing seal sequences. "_Collaboration Technique: Breath of a Broken Earth!_" The clones shouted simultaneously.

Two white hot pillars of flame and wind shot forth and slammed into each other, smothering Pain in their violent clash. A repulsive force exploded from the point of contact however, instantly extinguishing the flames and slamming the clones out of existence. An uninjured Pain stood in the middle of a sizable crater.

His eyes fell on Preta who was struggling to escape his temporary prison with the help of Asura. Mativ, following in his clones' footsteps, rose up out of the ground between the two with a kunai in hand.

In one sweeping motion, he decapitated Preta and all three of Asura's left arms in spite of its attempts to move out of harm's way. A quick follow-up punt by Mativ and Preta's head landed at Pain's feet.

"Looks like your little entourage of copycats needs a name ch- guah!" Mativ found himself interrupted mid sentence by something latching onto his throat. A shimmer of the light later and a large chameleon with a single Rinnegan eye was shown as the culprit.

Instead of a tail it had a snake which was now coiled around Mativ's neck. In its open maw was the Animal Path appearing almost smug.

The would be traitor lifted the kunai to begin hacking at the tail but was stopped by Asura extending one of his hands to take a hold of Mativ's wrist. Pain looked at the mechanical man as if giving a silent order and, whatever that was, it complied.

Its two remaining hands extended to Preta's body and pulled it out of the ground. Naraka came along and extended a hand towards the ground.

Purple flames appeared and formed a portal through which the massive head of the King of Hell rose up. Tendrils, sent from the King's open maw, picked up Preta's body and head and carried them back to the mouth from which they came.

The King of Hell chewed for a few seconds before reopening its mouth.

To Mativ's private horror, Preta came back out whole and alive looking no worse for wear.

Mativ didn't even notice he stopped struggling in the grip of the chameleon's snake tail.

"_Universal Pull._" Mativ found himself disarmed as the kunai he had was now in Pain's possession. Asura let go of Mativ and walked into the King of Hell's mouth also coming out perfectly healed.

'So my hunch was correct. Each one is specialized. A Taijutsu Specialist, Summoner, Healer, Chakra Absorber, and I'm assuming Pain himself is Ninjutsu... Wait a second...where is the sixth?'

"You seem...to be...missing ...someone." Mativ managed to say despite the snake choking him.

"He is dealing with Kakuzu as we speak."

"Ah...alright. Well, thanks for this enlightening meeting but its time for the real me to continue this fight." Mativ's color melted away leaving behind paper white skin with various seals and kanji. "Boom."

* * *

The Human Path had just finished absorbing Kakuzu's soul when it heard a massive explosion in the direction of the battle. From what it could tell through its shared connection, Animal, Preta, and Asura were taken out instantly.

Deva managed to save itself and Naraka with minimal trouble.

Human got a surprise however when it turned around to see a chakra covered fist slam into its face.

* * *

Mativ smirked as the Path fell over the edge of the skyscraper's roof. In spite of his waning reserves, he shoved enough chakra into that last attack to turn the Path's brain to slurry.

He looked at his partner's corpse and sighed. One less asset in the organization.

Mativ shifted his gaze over to the small mushroom cloud caused by his explosion. "Man...explosions are a beautiful thing."

That last clone brought his Second Stage's chakra to dangerously low levels however so he brought his fists together. Awakening was the hardest stage to go into but subsequent ones become easier and need less concentration as a result.

The roots of his seal extended to his eyes darkening them until they were solid orbs of black. In a sharp contrast, the white streaks in his hair thickened and spread until the last of his brown hair was gone.

"_Third Stage: Liberation._"

* * *

Pain surveyed the damage done by the explosive tag clone Mativ managed to fool him with. 'He replaced himself underground. How did I make such an elementary mistake?' He shook the thought away. A god does not make mistakes.

Casualties were the heaviest he's ever experienced since making his Six Paths of Pain technique. Three Paths...no...Human is gone too...**four **Paths dead in the span of ten seconds by this traitor.

Perhaps he had underestimated the cunning of his opponent.

Naraka summoned the King of Hell once more after gathering the dead bodies of his Paths and began the process of resurrecting them when a massive flare of chakra was felt in the distance.

Pain, Naraka, and a newly restored Asura looked up to see a Mativ land across from them, a crater appearing at his feet from the intensity of the power he was exuding.

"Now that the warm-up is done with..." He tilted his head to the side popping his neck and gave Pain sly grin.

"Let's go for Round 2."

* * *

**The Present**

The anger he saw in Pain's eyes and the expression on his face at that point was _priceless_.

The Preta Path went up to Mativ and ripped him from the wall by his throat.

'Oh the pain is coming back.' Mativ thought as Preta seem to be struggling with the decision to crush his throat right there or draw out his misery. It felt like the freak was _incredibly_ indecisive.

However rather than kill him right then and there, It absorbed whatever chakra he managed to regain since getting knocked through two buildings and threw him at Deva's feet who was being joined by the Naraka, Human, and Asura Paths.

"You've managed to destroy some of my Paths. While it was a worthless effort in the end, no one has ever manage to even destroy one before and I commend you for it. However, this ends now."

Black rods shot out of the sleeves of all six Paths.

Mativ, in spite of himself, started snickering then chuckling which evolved into full blown laughter. Sensing Pain's confusion Mativ decided to throw him a bone.

"Oh the irony of this situation just finally got to me is all." He rolled over so he was looking up at the Six Paths of Pain.

"Me, a son of the Shinju, brought down to this level by a man who merely thinks himself a god."

A deafening silence overtook the scene.

"...What?"

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

I was going to publish this Saturday but then I decided that a fight this important to the plot and of this caliber needed some more time to be properly refine.

I also accidentally deleted the entire first half so that had to be rewritten.

But the delay was mainly because of the first reason. Probably.

Anyways thanks for reading, tell me what you like and what you didn't like in the reviews, and have a great New Years!

Oh I almost forgot.

Good job with that guess, anonymous reviewer from last chapter. On the chapter right before the big reveal too.


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